Executing our sales strategies is a challenge for most organizations. Everyone is asking: ‘Where can I find good people?’ the 2007 insurance institute of canada demographic study shed some light on this issue with the findings that our industry has not been particularly effective at attracting and on-boarding youth and immigrant talent.
This, combined with our aging workforce, is making it particularly difficult to find new sources of talent. Back in 2007, the median age of the canadian property and casualty sector was 41. It was significantly higher in the broker category. Considering our aging population, our recruitment strategies should incorporate more out of the box thinking and a consistent, disciplined approach in attracting potential new sources of talent.
Here are some ideas on how we can do this:
CONSTANTLY FILL THE TALENT PIPELINE
As sales organizations, not only do we need to constantly be filling our client prospect pipeline, we also need to have a full talent pipeline. The organization and everyone within it need to be constantly on the lookout for talent that would be a great fit for their firms.
What do we look for? Well, so often we get stuck in the trap of looking for the same thing as everyone else; someone that’s been around a while and we believe we won’t have to train (they’ll make our lives easy), someone that has a ‘sure thing’ book of business (we’re certain all their clients are going to follow that individual – legally or with complications), the individual that sparkles with charisma and polish (and we know for sure that all his friends in high places will be sure to follow). Well, some of that might be true. But, since we’re trying to fill our talent pipeline, let’s consider some other options.
HIRE FOR ATTITUDE AND TRAIN FOR SKILLS
Intuitively we all know this but very few organizations follow through on it. It’s difficult because it’s time consuming and because of a new hire’s lack of experience, it typically requires a significant investment for a couple of years. Further, we have to be both realistic and supportive to these ‘newbies’ that we hire so they as well don’t give up in frustration. Look for individuals outside the industry who are professional, friendly and engaging, have some smarts and have an orientation towards entrepreneurial oriented activities, sales and/or customer service. Consider recent graduates, second career candidates, new immigrants or those who have been successful in other industries.
GET REFERRALS
Ask for referrals from your own employees, clients and your business network. Just like clients that are referred to us, employees that are referred in often tend to stay longer. Encourage these referrals from your people and make it part of your culture that the talent pipeline is always full.
MARKET YOUR BROKERAGE AS AN EMPLOYER OF CHOICE
Just as your marketing efforts should be supporting your prospecting and business development activities, it should also be supporting your human resources strategy. It should position your firm as a great place to work and speak to the people you want on your team.
There’s a lot of great tools that can be used for this. Consider a careers section on your own website, linkedin, facebook and a number of other social networking mediums. Sell the benefits of this industry and your firm!
HIRE SLOWLY
Our candidate prospecting activity may generate activity and interest but we still want to hire slowly. Unless we are trained hr professionals, most of us make a hiring decision within the first few minutes of an interview based on how we feel about the person. We then spend the next 45 minutes or so trying to justify the decision that we’ve already made on just gut instinct. Being likeable and personable, though necessary and important, doesn’t mean a candidate is going to be a good sales or service person nor that they’ll be a good fit with your brokerage. Given the length of time it does take to onboard new employees, especially if they’re from outside the industry, is all the more reason to ensure you’ve got the best fit possible. Behavioural-based interviews and assessments that assess fit to the role and your culture will increase your successes of a great hire.